Punjab already under President's rule: Shiromani Akali Dal

Addressing media persons here, senior Akali leader and former Revenue Minister of Punjab Bikram Singh Majithia said, "All this is being done under a deep-rooted conspiracy between the state and the Central government, to throw cold water on the farmers."

The Akali leader said the Vidhan Sabha session had been convened with only two objectives and on both, the farmers had been stabbed in the back.

"The first objective was to reject the Centre's Black Laws, while the second was to render these Laws infructuous and un-implementable in Punjab, by declaring the whole of the state a Private Market Yard."

"Both these objectives were cleverly defeated by ensuring that the Bill requires the Presidential assent, or in other words, the assent of the Centre, which has already implemented the Black laws against the farmers," said Majithia.

Reacting to Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's 'boast' about readiness to face the President's Rule in Punjab, Majithia asked, 'Do you seriously want us to believe that Punjab is not already under the President's Rule? What else is it when the state government lacks the courage even to bring a Bill to protect its farmers, which would not require the approval of the President, or in other words, of Mr Modi?"

"Captain is merely a transparent fig-leaf to cover the President's Rule already in force in Punjab. Everyone in Punjab knows that not a leaf stirs in his government without clearance from Mr Modi. This Bill was just one more example," said Majithia.

The SAD leader further said the Bill and the manner in which it had been brought and passed on Tuesday, was 'clearly an orchestrated and foxy move by the Modi-Captain duo to completely destroy the farmers' cause by throwing the responsibility for the purchase of crop up in the air between the state and the Centre'.

Majithia also condemned the clean chit given to Congress Minister Sadhu Singh Dharmsot and demanded a 'court-monitored' inquiry into the post-matric scholarship funds scam, as it affects the future of children belonging to poor and socially & economically-exploited families.